Horse Print by Cathy Cullis.

The Ship print from Faye Moorhouse.

Bug Me-Hand painted Silk Dress by Coni Matta.

Have you seen Fine Little Gallery over at the super-amazing Elisabeth Dunker’s blog? Elisabeth loves kid’s art and decided to begin a web gallery dedicated to it. I have been enjoying the submissions so much & had to share one of Ishi’s drawings, he drew it a few weeks ago, I love it because it features a tiny imaginary cat we hear a lot about nearly every day. Children are the most wonderful storytellers.

Some Cat People heading off to the Hannah Zakari shop in Edinburgh next week. I am hoping to get my Etsy shop up and running again, I make so few pieces these days it is looking increasingly unlikely. Doesn’t stop me window shopping over there though!

Flying Rabbit with Sea Inside here.

Peg Leg Demon here.

Gluehmonsters here.

Doll House here.

Last week the lovely people at The Working Proof contacted me to tell me all about themselves and a new print, illustration/animation goddess Julia Pott, has produced for them. The print is titled Whale Hill and below you will find some more information about it and The Working Proof: “an online print gallery and shop with the mission of promoting both art and social responsibility through a series of limited-edition prints.”

“Julia was influenced by English beach towns. Julia says that while she was creating the piece, it was brought to her attention by a few people that she’s not very good at sharing things (whether it be her dessert or lending someone a book), so she created the fox as a version of herself, keeping the houses and ponies to himself. As always, Julia’s print is full of great details: an intricate landscape, the night sky, the fox’s awesome knit pants…15% of each print sold will be donated to Transportation Alternatives, a NYC non-profit that advocates for bicycling, walking and public transportation as the best transportation alternatives. “

“Prints [from The Working Title] are affordable (always under $100), and each print is paired by the artist with a charity to which we will donate 15% of each sale – creating what we believe to be a product with not just aesthetic, but social value. Our charities support a wide range of causes including humanitarian outreach, animal rights, environment, and research. A new print is released once a week, on Tuesdays at 1:30 pm, EST. “

The Working Proof

This print and this bag send me into a rapturous delirium of acquisitiveness, oh yes pleeease imaginary secret benefactor!

In Russia screen print from Lizzy Stewart’s shop, About Today.
Tote from Dazzling Lanna.

Hopefully a Plush You report later!
XXX

Oh look, super yummy, new T-shirts from Caitlin Shearer over at Pepperminte. If you love Caitlin’s prints you will definitely want to wear these illustrations on your chest all day long. I particularly like The Bleeding Knees Club tee shown above.

I am intrigued by Ian Carpenter’s paintings; landscapes that morph into creaturely forms, arresting blocks and swatches of acid bright colour, these works will take you on an emotional journey into spaces where stories are woven. Let’s join Ian and learn some more about his work.

Tell me us little about yourself, the media you work with and your creative process.

“Well I have a natural inclination towards the creative process and I find paintings to be a good outlet, a great medium for myself. I find working with gouache at the moment (I’ve worked with oils and acrylics too) with wood board a spontaneous way of creating and the way the colors mix and react with the wood itself. Sometimes I work without any plan and paint as I go along but lately having a predetermined idea of what I want to do has been my creative guide.”

From where do you draw your inspiration: music, books, people, nature etc?

“Music, so many things, just today I’ve been listening to Tortoise again, great ambient and jazzy sonic textures and now I have some sad ol’ Wilco song drifting through my head, so yes, songs can help out in terms of a painting’s atmosphere when one is painting. Nature plays a part too obviously – I like landscapes, from the Fauves to the American Tonalists to De Stael to various artists of our time. People, well, hm, I’m not much of a figurative painter of late. I’ve studied Classical Drawing and have rendered the human form in many ways (paint, pencil, charcoal), but in the last few years I’ve focused on nature and abstract forms – why is that – I don’t know – maybe just living in New York City I get enough of human beings and human interaction daily, ha.”

If you could talk briefly about the background to one of your pieces which would you choose and why? Tell us the story behind the piece.

“For example Bánh Hỏi Weather (above), I had that Vietnamese dish on my latest birthday and being a foodie (and an artist), just putting that dish into a landscape seemed fun to me – and maybe the thoughts of growing older influenced me to put stormy clouds in there, something greyish and forlorn overlooking tasty sustenance – and again everything is regenerative so nature provides/nourishes the food we eat then we or I live on to experience another day – or more specifically in this case – to paint another day. So looking at this painting again I’m getting that meditation from it and a colorful one at that.”

You can find Ian here:
Blog
Coming soon to:
Artquiver

Ian tells me that he is planning to open an Etsy shop at some point in the future. Do let us know when your shop is up and running Ian, thanks so much for joining us today and sharing a little corner of your life with us. What is it about Tortoise’s music that creates such vivid mental imagery? When I was going through an “I’m going to be a filmaker” phase I plotted out a cinematic journey to Standards. Sadly my film was never made!!!
I have a plush related interview coming up soon, in line with my all new super-relaxed attitude to blogging I can’t say when. But soon kittens!

First some loves. I am a huge fan of the work of painter/illustrator Deth P. Sun. Heroic cats (or cat, who knows!) on dangerous quests, encounters with ghostly tribes and all manner of strange beasts. Little flashes from a larger narrative that never appears, intriguing and poetic Sun’s paintings transport me to another place and time. Oh, and check out the Deth P. Sun Etsy shop for random pieces from this extraordinary artist.

Sigh! I would love to own all of the above.

I may have to raid the coffers and bag one of these wonderful pieces from Wunderlust. All of the ‘Wankers’ have been sold but you can request a custom word or phrase of your very own.

I have become enamored with The Fox & Hare: Responding to Collective Nouns, a blog run by Gracia Haby of Gracia & Louise. I too find collective nouns beautiful and they often become a fulcrum for fabulous flights of fancy. I’m not sure if one would be able to find references to many of the collective nouns found here, they may be suggestions, who cares, the illustration pictured above is probably my favourite. You can find it in A vagary of impediments & a sneak of weasels, a zine by Gracia Haby.

If you have time be sure to have a peek at this delightful animation from Russia entitled The Fox & The Hare, based upon a folk tale there is so much inspiration here. Tender hearted predators and one tenacious fox.

And now for my little confession which will come as no surprise to some of my lovely readers. I feel quite silly addressing this issue here but, hmm, I’m at a loss and time to face up to one of my oddities and peculiarities. I have email anxiety (yup, I told you it was silly and it looks even more stupid written down!). I’m not going to go into detail but this ‘tick’ of mine really causes me a great deal of guilt and, that word again, anxiety. I hate being such an unreliable correspondent and I have lost budding and established friendships over this issue in the past. In fact this anxiety stretches out to include the telephone and often times one to one meet ups too. I am attempting to ‘sort it out’ & writing about it here is a good starting point. I have set myself some segments of time during which I *must* sit down and write, no excuses, delays or evasions. So, Monday and Friday mornings are now set aside for writing, responding, connecting. When the words flow it is such a joy, when they don’t near panic. Ok, phew, now I am nervous!

I am supposed to be filling in my Dad’s tax return for him this morning, instead I have been lost in the work of Mari Andrews (found via The Storque). This is really incredible work. Here is a snippet from Mari’s website:

My work has evolved out of years of drawing and obsessive collecting. Through sculpture I weave these two actions together. Wire, pine needles, branches and other linear material carry on the drawing practice while moving the work into the sculptural realm. Time spent gathering, cleaning and storing of collected objects, whether they are man-made or natural, allows for a kind of wonder and intimacy with each object. This gleaned information is crucial while combining materials to make new, hybrid forms.

Structures of all kinds from cellular and mineral to plant and skeletal, inform the work. The pieces become a collaboration of materials and intention, with the materials often altering my concept and practice of working. Various temporal and delicate objects I elect to work with often mirror our human sensitivities and vulnerabilities…I transform the materials used in these sculptural drawings to bring attention to fragile and often fugitive objects that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Hop over and immerse yourself in all this beauty. Now on with the number crunching-urgh!
Mari Andrews
The Storque

Caroline Gaedechens work opens up a mainline into my subconscious or, perhaps more correctly, it allows me to inhabit a secret space, a tiny kernel locked away inside of myself for a few moments. I have spoken before about the connection to something very old, primal and necessary in the work of certain artists, perhaps these works are a conduit of sorts, this is very difficult to articulate, it is a whisper from somewhere dark and unknown yet luminous and familiar, how would we recognize it otherwise? ‘Resonance’ may be the word I am groping for here.

Nuit Blanche on Etsy.

I have fallen in love with the work of Finnish Designer Klaus Haapaniemi. Folkloric, highly decorative with a touch of manga thrown in. Haapaniemi describes his style as “contemporary Baroque with a Scandinavian twist” and sites his biggest influences as animation and design from Russia and Czechoslovakia. The tableware is surprisingly affordable and oh so tempting. That foxy plate is destined for my wish list. Enjoy the visual feast below.

More information at Littala.